Field of Invention
The present invention relates to improved methods of and systems for controlling water flow, breaking water waves, and reducing surface erosion along river beds, streams, and coastal regions and waterways.
Brief Description of the State of Knowledge in the Art
In general, most armor block shapes have been developed by government agencies to provide solutions for erosion problems and the building of breakwaters for port development.
Since the early 1950's concrete armor shapes have been developed and used throughout the world with varying degrees of success to construct breakwaters around the world. The building of a major breakwater is an extremely costly venture that usually takes years to design and build. When erected in deep water areas, which can generate large waves, the breakwater is generally armored with large concrete armor units because of their superior stability factor over stone when subjected to severe wave attack.
One of the major drawbacks associated with using concrete armor shapes for protection of marine structures is the high cost of producing the units, which are usually cast only once every 24 hours. For a given structure requiring thousands of units, the casting operation can take months and even years to complete a given project. Therefore it is desirable that any shape proposed should preferably be simple to cast at a rapid rate.
Back in the early 1980's, Applicant developed a new and improved concrete armor shape, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,023, for use in the design and construction of breakwaters, flood control structures, armored revetments, jetties and for the rapid building of off-shore islands. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,023, Applicant proposed a construction element comprising a trapezoidal inner core supported by trapezoidal legs which space the inner core apart from any surface on which it rests, regardless of which face of the unit is disposed downward. As disclosed in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C, the overall shape of this prior art construction element is generally trapezoidal with specifically designed and shaped void segments cut into every plane surface for the release of water pressure to prevent uplift pressures from moving the units out of position. The void segments on each surface of the units also form legs for setting the units and also provides for a void area beneath the blocks for release of hydrostatic head pressure. The leg configuration also permits ease of installation on a rough stone surface. No matter how the units are arranged (patterned or random) the void zones permit escape of water pressure which is of prime importance for stability. When the units are placed pell-mell they form a highly stable mass permitting the release of water pressure in every direction even if one block is placed directly on top of another unit. When the units are set in a pattern, either laying down or standing erect, they form a stable mass, and as wave energy moves up an array of the blocks, it will collide with the water jets that pass through the void areas in each unit.
While the prior art construction unit disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,023 offers structural integrity, it has suffered from a number of significant shortcomings and drawbacks. In particular, this prior art breakwater construction block has experienced serious breakage problems when subjected to eccentric movement and consolidation on a breakwater slope. In addition to presenting difficulty during the casting of the units, the four top lugs on the unit experience shearing off or breakage, and have limited the applications for this breakwater construction block design.
Therefore, there is a great need in the art for a new and improved breakwater construction block for constructing seawalls, beach erosion barriers, and systems for controlling and breaking water, and reducing surface erosion along rivers, streams and coastal regions and waterways, and also improved methods and apparatus for manufacturing the same in a flexible and cost-effective manner, while avoiding the shortcomings and drawbacks of prior art systems and methodologies.